Ah, nerdiness - how I love thee.

So, we’ll start off with a slightly sad fact: School ended Monday (NOT sad), BUT I was there Tuesday almost all day for the benefit concert, I was there today to get my final grades, and I will be there tomorrow for graduation - my friend got me a ticket. I guess I just can’t get enough of the place. And today, after we got out grades, Alethia’s other half and I played Scrabble using my Comp Sci project for a good twenty minutes. In case anybody wasn’t completely sure we were utter nerds already.

And continuing with that theme, see what my physics class made:

This was a good few weeks of our year after the AP exam. For most of it, our teacher was trying to teach us particle physics, but we worked on this monster every spare moment. It was alternately hilarious and the most frustrating thing I’ve ever laid hands on. But ultimately rewarding, as the last 20 seconds of the video will show. Listen hard to hear the easy button at the end - the flying kookaburra triggers it.

Oh yeah - and ‘Fly Like an Eagle’ came up on random shuffle when we were filming that. Call it fate.

P.S. My mom and I went on a short (aka 11 mile) bike ride today, and I SMOKED her. It was cool - I think the music helps. I <3 my new Shuffle.

P.P.S. Regarding bike ride, we still haven’t gotten the pictures developed, but I hope they’re magnificent and I can post them. Also, I haven’t forgotten about the contest! Well, okay, I did for awhile. Unfortunately, we didn’t even make it to the first drawing, so I’ll have to see if my mom still wants to part with that exquisite skein. She probably will, but I need to check. There will certainly be a drawing for everyone whom was promised one, though! Fear not!

ETA: Okay, so it HAS to be a secret conspiracy. Turns out I have to go to school tomorrow TOO, to get my work papers for my job this summer.

Yay! Loot!

Sorry it’s been so long - I’m finally resurfacing from finals. I have one left, but it’s no big deal. I’m basically done! Gloriosity!

So.

We biked. Around Lake Tahoe. It was intense. I don’t have any pictures from the ride yet, because we used disposable cameras and I haven’t finished it yet. But it was breathtaking. It SO made the 7-mile climb starting at mile 80 worth it when you came around a corner and saw this incredible view of this gorgeous lake. Here’s my helmet:

And here was me:

And then after we finished, I ran into a parked car. We had these giant buffalo on our helmets (because the rest of our chapter is from Buffalo…) and I was trying to copy our coach and duck under a rope hanging maybe five feet high while on my bike, and I veered to the side. Only there was no space to veer. So I crashed and left a big scratch down the side of a black SUV. The people were standing right behind it loading the trunk, too - and they didn’t notice until I called to them!

Me, lying on ground beneath bike, trying not to sob: Excuse me - I’m really sorry, I just ran into your car!

Them: Oh, it’s a rental - we won’t tell if you won’t. Are you okay?

Me: *sigh of relief and pain*

I was rather scraped up. But my bike computer still only said 99.75 miles when we got back to the hotel, so I rode in circles on the sidewalk until it said 100. You can’t work all day not to get that satisfaction! Here was my bike shoe after:

Yeah.

Oh, and another story from that. One guy on our team is a pastor, probably about 60 years old. His wife has lymphoma, and she actually had a relapse during our training. During the ride, he crashed going downhill at twentysomething miles per hour. The medical team had to pick him up - he even cracked his helmet. But after they fixed him up, he got back on the course and finished - 7-mile climb and all! He had been talking earlier about how he talked to teens and was disappointed to find that when he asked them who their heroes were, they were inevitably some actor or athlete - someone who makes a lot of money and lives glamorously. I told him after the ride (and I usually don’t say stuff like this out loud, so it took a bit of courage, mind you) that he was more of a hero than any of those people. Because it’s so true.

Oh yeah, and my birthday is tomorrow! But my dad is out of town, so we did the ‘family celebration’ yesterday. We went out for hibachi, which was fun - but it was a bad day for it. It’s obscenely hot. So we pretty much sweltered in front of towers of flame wondering when we could return to the air-conditioned car…but the food was good! And then we went home - my mom had made me strawberry shortcake! - and I got the family presents. Got some sweet loot:

• iTunes card
• an iPod shuffle! (for running and such) And a ‘puck’ case for it.
• three shirts - a biking one and two T-shirts, one biking-related (this one if anybody’s curious)
• A Life is Good keyring - to which I promptly transferred my (lonely - I hopefully get car copies when I pass my road test!) key and other paraphernalia
• A book of short stories about time travel
• KnitPicks interchangeable needles!!! As well as stitch markers and a new set of cable needles - the two knitting artifacts I never fail to lose.
• that reference thingie that tells you how much yarn of various gauges you need for stuff
• a book of Japanese knitting patterns…I’m going to need some help reading those…but they’re pretty neat.

And then tomorrow - on my birthday, when it’s supposed to be over 90 degrees - we’re biking 40 miles. We signed up awhile ago - we knew we’d be in shape from the century ride. But I’ve done basically nothing athletic all week because of finals. And we just got our bikes back (they had to ride back cross-country in a truck) today…so that should be interesting…

And finally, I’ve resumed the lace scarf I started on the NYC trip, and I’m almost done with the Prom Socks. Pictures will come…at some point.

PROM?!

Yes. Indeed.

There was a corsage. No date, but a corsage nonetheless…(not my idea)

And a trippy limo.

We went for hibachi. It was incredibly tasty.

People looked like dinosaurs trying to catch riceballs.

And of course, the classic ‘onion volcano.’

Alethia’s other half had fabulous socks.

So fabulous that my incipient sock needed to pose with one.

Why yes, I did knit in the limo. Not surprising.

I also danced. And eventually enjoyedd it. THAT was surprising. Apologies for the horribly edited photo - I had to brighten it a bunch.

One fabulous hat to top it off

Odd flavors

So I was thinking today - I like odd combinations of flavors - sweet and salty, tangy and salty, sweet and sour…Well, I guess they’re not precisely odd combinations, but I find them in odd places. Examples:

• Tostitos and Nerds
• turkey sandwiches and cinnamon candies
• ice cream sandwiches and lemonade
• Skittles and Pringles
• fish sticks and cottage cheese with paprika

Anybody else like weird food combinations?

The FO-Fest continues!

Some pretty crappy photos of My So Called Scarf, which I like, but am honestly just glad to be done with at this point.

I am indeed alive.

P.P.S.: Another box appeared in my sidebar…box of ambisiosity. Probably not a word.

P.S.: I entered a contest. All you have to do to enter is measure your hands so Knitasaur can design some sweet gloves, and you get a chance to win yarn! And please say I sent you!

Wow, I haven’t done a real post in awhile. With AP’s, biking, and the violin recital, I have had little to no time.

First off - some FO’s:

Pattern: Braided Neckpiece by Teva Durham, from her book, Loop-d-Loop (ravelry link)
Yarn: My mom’s handspun BFL
Needles: 9, I think…
Mods: My gauge was 3.5 instead of 3 so I had to add a few stitches to everything
Comments: I love how it turned out, but the woven part was a bit tedious - lots of ends to weave in…
Also, I’m really proud of that first photo. I’ve been drooling over brooklyntweed’s photography, and actually asked him advice awhile ago - I think this is the closest to his caliber I’ve ever gotten. :D (the second photo’s just to have some idea what it looks like on a real human)

Incidentally, it’s also a good cat sleeping bag.

Pattern: Lucy Bag from Two Old Bags (ravelry link)
Yarn: Harrisville somethingorother
Needle: 10
Mods: None
Comments: As evidenced by the fact that this is the second one I’ve made - I really like this pattern.

(this one’s mainly because you can see my new haircut, which I really like)

Pattern: My own, general vicinity of stitch numbers obtained from Sweater Wizard
Yarn: Nashua Creative Focus Brushed Alpaca
Needle: 4, maybe?
Comments: It’s a bit scratchy - hopefully that will be remedied by blocking. But it’s also a bit small. My sister might end up wearing this more than I do.

(we had fun photographing this one…)

Pattern: Chain Link Scarf by Teva Durham from Loop-d-Loop (ravelry link)
Mods: I did each loop in a different stitch instead of all stockinette, also I have no idea if I used the same number of stitches as she called for in any case
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Angora
Needle: 7? I should keep better track of these things - it’d be good to know what needle I used for various yarns…
Comments: Angora…soooffffft…

All of these except for the sweater will be possible prizes at a raffle tonight at my brother’s recital to support our bike ride. We did the same at my recital on Friday and raised over $200!

‘K, now that I’ve finally posted all those…Oh, but there will be more! I’ve vowed to myself that from now until I have many fewer UFO’s/WIP’s than currently, I will finish at least two of them for every one new project I start. I call this endeavor The Finishing…sounds dramatic. I hope to have significantly reduced the pile by the end of the summer. And for awhile, there will be lots of FO’s because I’ve realized I have a TON of almost-FO’s. At least two scarves and some hats, among other things. Because those are the kind of things I start on a whim when I need a project to do doing a movie or something.

Anyways, my life…AP’s are done! Finals approach, but not too quickly. My violin recital went really well. I’m biking a lot. Oh yeah, and my sister, two of my friends, and I were a trivia bowl team yesterday and we came in second to win movie tickets! And that’s the Cliffsnotes version.

That’s pretty nifty

I’m famous!

http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=15704

It was on TV, too! And I didn’t look like an idiot!

P.S. There are two basically-FO’s only in need of blocking. No pics of those yet, but this is next up, because I don’t feel like pulling anything out of hibernation at the moment.

It’s my mom’s handspun. And it’s BFL…

I feel so badass.

*points at sidebar*

Sorry for the lack of posting. I’ve been going crazy with AP’s coming up and biking getting ramped up since the 100 miles is in less than a month! Unfortunately, that’s not really going to change now. Don’t expect much until after Physics, ie May 13th or so.

I’ve kinda given up on the contest, but here’s another halfhearted plea along with a nod at the fifty different links to it around here.

On the bright side, knitting has been happening a bit! There are two almost-FO’s in the works.

*goes back to drowning in studying*

Another Plea

Please, please, please enter the contest! Even if you can only spare a bit! We’re getting kinda worried because we’re still over $3,000 away from our goal…

And if you can’t afford anything (but seriously, look at that yarn!), at least spread the word through your blog! You’ll still get entered for a surprise drawing at the end!

Come on, guys! I want to get to $100 so I can give away that gorgeous yarn!

*nods at the forty different places on this page at which the contest is linked and doesn’t link it again*